Dundee's Greig Stewart heads into an empty net to make it 2-0 (Image: SNS)

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DUNDEE won for the first time in nine SPFL Premiership matches at Dens Park this afternoon as they consigned a ten-man Motherwell side to their third successive defeat.

Well boss Ian Baraclough handed 18 year-old Dom Thomas his first start in claret and amber after he impressed as a substitute against Aberdeen last Sunday, while Paul Hartley made one change for Dundee from the side which drew 1-1 with Ross County with debutant Bulgarian Kostadin Gadzhalov replacing the injured James McPake.

In blizzard conditions on Tayside, the home side made a whirlwind start and were two-up inside seven minutes as Motherwell's defence simply froze in the Arctic conditions.

Firstly, after some terrific skill from Alex Harris that saw him escape Craig Reid, his shot on goal took a wicked deflection off Stephen McManus which wrong-footed Well keeper Dan Twardzik and nestled into the net.

It was the youngster's first goal since joining the Dark Blues from Hibs - although Well boss Baraclough will be questioning his defence after the ease at which he was able to cut through them.

And if he was angered with the first goal, he would have been enraged with the second.

Greig Stewart found himself in-behind the Well defence far too easily, and after his initial effort cannoned off the crossbar he was first to the rebound to nod the ball beyond Twardzik and send the home support into raptures.

And that man Stewart almost made it three straight afterwards as a curling effort was tipped over the post by an acrobatic Twardzik dive which he followed by lambasting his teammates for their sloppiness.

And his ire seemed to do the trick as Motherwell tightened-up at the back and got back into the game on 19 minutes.

Great wing play from Henrik Ojamma found Josh Law bursting into the area and his cut-back was perfect for John Sutton to slide the ball beyond Scott Bain and give his side a lifeline.

There was almost a carbon-copy of that goal shortly afterwards, although Bain this time was alert to cut out the cross from Law.

Dundee weren't prepared to roll over and take a Well fightback lightly however, and after some good pressure in and around the visitors' penalty area, they went 3-1 in front - although they had Dan Twardzik to thank for making their task of scoring so much easier.

Stewart's corner looked to be an easy catch for the Czech stopper, but he dropped it straight at the feet of Gary Irvine who slammed it into the back of the net.

And any hopes of a dramatic Motherwell comeback were extinguished just before half time as Henrik Ojamaa saw red for what looked to be an elbow on Kevin Thomson - the second time this week Dundee have seen their opponents reduced in numbers.

With their man-advantage, Dundee were always going to dominate the second half and hey passed-up a number of decent chances to further extend their lead.

David Clarkson came close to a "Goal of the Season" contender with a terrific dipping volley that Twardzik clawed away at the last possible minute before the goalkeeper then denied substitute Gary Harkins what looked a certain with an excellent blocking save at his feet.

Ian Baraclough gave another Motherwell youngster - Ross MacLean - a debut from the bench in the second half, but he and fellow substitute Lee Erwin couldn't have any real influence on the match.

And Dundee's dominance eventually paid off as they made it four with 20 minutes left - although they had a combination of Mark O'Brien and Twardzik again to thank.

The pantomime season may be over, but Twardzik and O'Brien would have given even the Krankies a run for their money in the comedy stakes as substitute Luka Tankulic's tame effort looked to be trickling back to the goalkeeper before the pair got into an awful tangle as the ball slithered over the line.

Dundee continued to look the most threatening, and Paul Hartley will be delighted with the spirit and application shown by his players after their recent poor run.